Typically, glide bearings in reciprocating carriage and rail systems such as those used in low-cost printers have used cylindrical holes of circular cross section slightly greater in diameter than that of the cylindrical rails of circular cross section rails reciprocating laterally therethrough. Such structures provide reasonable dynamic stability and long life. There are problems, however: such bearing structures provide a single line of contact at the point of tangency between the carriage and the rail, which line of contact tends to move in response to external forces. The result is a lack of control of the carriage relative to the rail and undesirable and uncontrollable fore and aft movement of the carriage that reduces print quality. The problem is worse during times of acceleration and deceleration of the carriage along the rail, as at either extreme of its reciprocal movement therealong.